Symbiosis Coalition Launches First Joint RFP, Focusing on Reforestation and Agroforestry Projects
Symbiosis Coalition, an advance market commitment for nature-based carbon removal by Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce, is proud to announce the launch of our first Request for Proposals (RFP) process, starting with reforestation and agroforestry projects. This RFP will drive progress towards our goal to contract up to 20 million tonnes of high-quality nature-based carbon removal credits by 2030, while helping address market challenges for scaling these projects.
The world cannot achieve its climate targets without restoring and conserving nature. Carbon markets can unlock needed finance for nature-based carbon removal projects, but a lack of clarity on how to define quality, uncertainty around demand and buyer willingness to pay the true cost for high-quality projects, and the complexities of dynamic ecological systems and multi-stakeholder engagement have discouraged investment. Symbiosis was founded to catalyze the supply of next-generation projects by signaling demand for best-in-class restoration backed by the latest science, and translating that demand into signed offtake agreements to enable more projects to get off the ground.
Through this initial RFP, Symbiosis seeks to advance the market by:
Demonstrating how our quality criteria are reflected in actual projects and further clarifying buyer expectations for nature-based carbon removal through the initial RFP guidance we publish, the offtakes members sign, and lessons shared transparently along the way;
Supporting projects to access low-cost financing by helping members to sign bankable offtake agreements and, as appropriate, facilitating connections between developers and investors to finance projects;
Taking action on our volume commitment and sharing guidance and case studies over time to encourage more capital off the sidelines, more projects into development, and more buyers to the table.
What we’re looking for
This first RFP reflects months of work and input from developers, experts, scientists, buyers, NGOs, investors, standards bodies, and other stakeholders from across the ecosystem. We designed the process to lower barriers to entry for developers by streamlining access to multiple buyers and significant demand at once, while also implementing a best-in-class diligence approach informed by the most recent science and standards to rigorously evaluate project alignment with our quality criteria.
We aim for Symbiosis-supported offtakes to represent the best examples of next-generation restoration projects and to illustrate what high-quality projects look like, ensure those types of projects can attract the financing needed for scale, and inspire more projects and investments like them. While we intend to prioritize projects with a path to scale, meaning preference for 500,000 tonnes of carbon removal by 2035 and at least 1M tonnes over the project lifetime, we aim to preserve a pathway for smaller projects with local leadership and particularly impactful ecological, biodiversity, or social benefits.
Symbiosis hopes to attract applications from a diverse range of eligible project developers. However, we recognize that RFP processes can consume significant time and effort, so we encourage developers to carefully review the requirements before applying.
How to apply
To apply to the RFP, developers should follow these steps:
Ensure their projects at minimum meet Symbiosis’s Quality Pillars and Reforestation and Agroforestry Quality Criteria, are ready to undergo a robust diligence process, and can enter into long-term offtake agreements with Symbiosis Members (at least a feasibility assessment and ideally pilot-stage project is complete).
Review our readiness checklist to determine whether the RFP is the right fit at this time. This outlines the necessary documentation, how it supports our evaluation of our quality criteria, and what we’ll be looking for in each document. Developers can understand what to expect and submit on the commercial side by viewing our offtake guidance.
Submit their applications through our online platform by the January 31, 2025 priority deadline. Developers may still submit their projects after this deadline but will not be guaranteed an initial review.
After the priority deadline, we expect to determine a shortlist of prioritized projects in February to progress to the next round of diligence. In April, we’ll refine our shortlist to a set of finalists, and begin the full and final round of in-depth diligence. We expect to begin the contracting process with the selected projects in the summer of 2025, likely in July.
Projects not yet ready for the Symbiosis RFP process can find a list of resources here to help identify potential early-stage funding sources, technical assistance, or other organizations to support their preparation for future and other RFPs. We expect this list to evolve over time and serve as a public resource to all developers seeking to develop high-integrity nature-based carbon removal projects.
Our RFP Approach
Symbiosis will draw on the expertise and tools of top-tier service providers to support our first RFP. We’ll leverage tools from Pachama for application intake and initial screening, including using state-of-the-art digital, monitoring, and verification tools to understand land eligibility, leakage risk, and baselining. For project diligence and evaluation, on-the-ground assessments, and risk mitigation, we will work with Carbon Direct and Xilva, drawing on the expertise of all our service providers, staff, and members to maintain the highest diligence standards throughout the process. You can learn more about our approach to choosing and working with our service providers here.
We expect to learn a lot through this first RFP process – from ways to evolve our offtake guidance, to approaches to further streamline processes for developers and buyers, to additional work needed to translate our quality criteria into real and quantifiable impact on the ground. We look forward to transparently sharing lessons learned with the public and the broader ecosystem to accelerate and amplify our collective impact.
Where to go from here
To learn more about this RFP and stay up to date with the latest, see our RFP landing page which includes general RFP FAQs and links to other resources.
For an overview of the RFP process, timeline, readiness checklist, and RFP questionnaire, please join us for our second Project Developer webinar on 12/17 at 8am PT / 11am ET. Fill out this form to RSVP.